York Historic Environment Record

Archaeological monitoring of topsoil stripping along the 14km construction corridor for the Yorkshire Derwent Aqueduct water pipeline between Elvington and Riccal Site 3 was located to the south-east of Escrick just east of Mount Pleasant Farm, within the Selby District of North Yorkshire. The site consisted of a subrectangular enclosure adjoining a ditched field boundary that had previously been identified from aerial photographs. Pottery recovered during excavation dated the enclosure to the Romano-British period. There were no internal features to the enclosure. Millfield Farm was located to the south-west of Wheldrake within the administrative area of the City of York. The site comprised a concentration of settlement related features of Romano-British date which extended for a length of 100m along the pipeline corridor. The features recorded included a series of enclosures adjacent to a trackway, the principal enclosure containing evidence of settlement with an external cemetery adjacent to the trackway. The main east to west enclosure boundary ditch adjoined the ditched trackway, which was orientated towards the city of York. On the northern side of the boundary ditch evidence for agricultural and industrial activity was recorded as well as part of a cemetery. On the southern side of the boundary ditch settlement type features were recorded which included the remains of a possible roundhouse. Over a thousand sherds of 3rd to 4th century pottery were recovered from the site which, along with stratigraphic evidence, indicated three broad phases of activity. In addition to these two sites, a number of former field boundaries and traces of ridge and furrow cultivation were recorded at different locations along the pipeline route.